Twitter Accuses Kenosha Police Chief Of Victim Blaming For Comments On Protest Shootings

In the aftermath of the protest shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Police Chief Daniel Miskinis appeared to shift the blame for the shootings on those who ignored the curfew.

“Persons who were out after the curfew became engaged in some type of disturbance, and persons were shot. Everybody involved was out after the curfew,” Miskinis said at a press conference Wednesday. “I'm not gonna make a great deal of it but the point is -- the curfew's in place to protect. Had persons not been out involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened.”

However, Miskins’ comments were met with almost immediate backlash online. Multiple users on Twitter have called for him to be fired or resign for his apparent victim blaming and attempts to justify the shooter’s actions.

Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, who was in Kenosha from Illinois to join local militias in response to the Black Lives Matter protests, has been charged with the shootings, which killed to protesters and injured another. Rittenhouse was arrested in Antioch, Illinois. He is due in court Friday for an extradition hearing.

Rittenhouse was also out past the curfew.

Kenosha had an 8 p.m. curfew imposed by police and city officials on Tuesday, which city and county police have said will be more strictly enforced going forward. This means anyone out past the curfew, protester or otherwise, would likely be arrested by police.

“We are going to be very assertive,” Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said. “If you don't follow the curfew, we will take you into custody.”

Beth said at the press conference he believed Rittenhouse was part of a group of civilians who asked to be deputized to patrol the protests. Beth said he refused because it would make them “a liability to me and the state of Wisconsin.”